Spherical turning device



June 28, 1960 'r. FOSTER SPHERICAL TURNING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24. 1956 1.. M f J w 0 f 0 O o a O@ 00E o 0 01 .w m 3%, o o O 000 00000 8 24 2 o O 2 M 5 v 8 .v o O g 0 0 OH INVENTOR. %aa64e flasrez WM @zheazav WW June 28, 1960 Filed April 24. 1956 Zea- T. FOSTER SPHERICAL TURNING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 HHIIHIIIHHIIIIHIIH HIHIHIHHI INVENTOR.

T. FOSTER SPHERICAL TURNING DEVICE June 28, 1960 Filed April 24. 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

June 28, 1960 T. FOSTER SPHERICAL TURNING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 24. 1956 NWN WWW June 28, 1960 FOSTER 2,942,509

SPHERICAL TURNING DEVICE Filed April 24, 1956 6 sheets sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 24. 1956 This invention relates to vertical boring mills and particularly to novel tool motion control means therefor. It is a specific object of this invention to provide an attachrnent for a vertical boring mill by means of which internal or external spherical turning of a work piece may be accomplished.

Another object of the invention is to provide an artachment for a vertical boring mill adapted to accommodate oliset internal or external-spherical turning;

Still another object is to provide an attachment for a vertical boring mill, the attaehinerit'not only being" capable of internal or external spherical turning but also adaptable for internal or external contouring.

Other objects and advantages-will be apparent from an examination of the following specification and accompar ying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a vertical boring mill to which thespherical turning attachment has been adapted;

Figure 2 is a side view of the side head and external spherical turning device, with portions of the structure broken away to illustrate the construction thereof;

Figure 2a is a sectional view taken at the line Zoo-2a of Figure 2;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken at line 3--3 of Figure 2 and illustrating the side head ram construction;

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken at line of Figure 2 showing the manual adjustment transmission means; a

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken at the center-line of the ram and tool of the internalspherical turning device as it would appear looking toward the left in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the internal construction of and driving means for the internal spherical turning device;

Figures-Z and 8 are sectional views of typical contours obtainable by use of the present inventio'njand Figure 9 is a front elevational view and Figure "10 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken at line 10-=--10 of Figure 9, of an embodiment of the device adaptedfor contour turning. t

It should be noted thatto clarify the figures, the radius turning arm is shown partially rotated in Figure 1, whereas in Figure 2 the arm has been shown in the vertical position.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figure l,

the vertical boring inill comprises generally a column portion 10 on which is mounted a horizontal rail 12, the rail Bein ovable up and down on ways 14 provided onthe column. A saddle 16 is movablein a generally horizontal direction across the rail, and the rail is provided wth horizontal ways to facilitate this movement. (Earned by the saddle 16 for horizontal movement relative thereto is an auxiliary slide 284, which will be described. indetail hereinafter. A ram 18'carrying a. tool holder 302 and. thereby a tool 19 (Figure 5) is mounted for vertical. movement in the auxiliary slide. 1 I

Also movable vertically on the column ways is a side head saddle 20 which is provided with ways 22 (Figure 3) adapted to carry for vertical motion therealong an auxiliary slide 24. The auxiliary slide 24 in turn is provided with horiaontally disposed ways 26 (l-Tig urei2 adapted to carry a side head ram 28, to whlch is secured.

a tool holder 30, the ram being movable radially toward or away from a work piece carrying table 32 whiclnwith the work piece (hot shown), is rotatable about a vertically disposed axis. The above described parts are well known to those skilled in the boring mill art and are, therefore, notdes'crib'ed in detail, except as they have been modified 'to specifically relate to the novel spherical turning attachments and the driving means therefor.

An internal turning attachment,- generally'indioated at 34, is carried by the rail 12 and an external turning attachr'n'e'n't, generally indicated at 36, is carried by the side head saddle 20.

'De'scri-bing first the external turning attachment and the driving arrangement therefor, it is seen (Figure 3) that the ways 22 comprise a plurality of raceways 38 secured to the side head saddle and having V-grooves 40 therein. Secured to the auxiliary slide '24 are a plurality of raceways 42having' V-grooves 44 therein which,- with the respective v grooves 40; provide a-bea'ringtrack accommodating .a plurality of balls 46.. The side head ram 28 moves horizontally in the auxiliary slide 24 and the ways 26 (Figure 2.) comprise ball bearing V tracks isirnilar' to those utilized for ways 22. Secured by means of a plurality of cap screws48 to th'e'side head rain 'for movement therewith is a depending bracket 50; Pivotally secured: asat 51 to the lower end of the bracket 50 is a radius .tur ningarm indicated generally at 52. The radius turning arm is'additionally pivoted (Figure 2).to the side head saddle 20- and driven therefrom in a manier to be explained hereinafter. Y

. As more clearly illustrated in Figure 1, it willbe seen that, as the radius turning-arm 52 is causedto rotateon an axis 92 from a horizontal position in a clockwise direction toward a vertical position, the pivot point 51 will 7.

move in an arcuate path, and inasmuch. as the auxiliary slide 24 is free to movedownward and the side headrajm 2,8 is ,fr'ee't'o move horizontally, the depending bracket 50 and the side head ram will-move in the same arcu'ate path as the pivot point 5-1. If at thistime awork piece were mounted'on the table and, rotating therewith,:the tool 31 (Figure 3) carried in the tool holder 30, would form an external spherical contour on the work piece.

The detailed structure of the pivot 51, the radius'turning aP-mSZ, the radius adjusting mechanism generally indicated: at 54, and the power transmission means for "driving the radius turning arm are best il-lustratedin Figures 2 and 2'0.

Reterring now to Figures 2 and" 2a, it is seen thatthe 7 side head saddle 20 is provided with a bearing housing .6 (Figure 2) which issecured to the side head-saddle preferably by a plurality oficap screws 58. The housing 56 is provided with a horizontally disposed opening 60 counterbored at each :end to receive antifriction bearings 62; Mounted for rotation in the bearings 62 is a stud shaft; 64 which maybe secured to or formedjintegral fwith-the body portion 66 of the radius turning arm 52. A radiusadjusting slide, 68 is dovetailed in the arm 52 and is positioned for sliding movement therealong by means of, atapered gib key 169' (Figure 2a). The slide 68 is provided internally thereof with a threaded opening 70 which operatively receives adjusting screw 72. A

horizontally projectingboss-74 isformed integrally with the adjusting slide 68 and has an opening 76 therethrough adapted to receive at its large diameter inner end a clamping block 78 andat'its smaller diameter outareadra clamping screw 80. The clamping block 78 is provided with an opening 82 which is aligned with the opening 70 and surrounds, with clearance, the adjusting screw 72.

longitudinal movement relative to the arm 52. A key a 75 is provided to prevent rotation of the block 78. The boss 74 is received within opening 84 in the depending bracket 50 and the boss and bracket are pivotally associated with each other by means of antifriction bearings 86, the inner races of which are mounted on the boss 74 and the outer races of which are received within the opening 84. A locking nut 88, which is held in position by means of a set screw 90, is utilized to maintain the assembled relationship of the slide and bracket.

The radius of the are through which the tool moves is determined by and is equal to the distance between the axis 92 of the stud shaft 64 and the axis 94 of the boss '74. The distance between axis 92 and axis 94 may be varied by means of the radius adjusting assembly generally indicated at 54. The radius adjusting assembly comprises the adjusting screw 72 which, as has been explained previously, is threadably received within the slide 68. The adjusting screw 72 is provided with a stop collar 98 (Figure 2) which may be formed integrally with the screw or alternately may be made as a separate piece 1 and secured to the screw by means of a. pin or set screw. The collar 98 abuts thrust bearing? 104 located in end wall 100 of the arm, and a smaller diameter portion 102 of the screw, which extends below the arm, is rotatably supported in sleeve 108. The bearing 104 is a thrust bearing seated against a shoulder 106 in the end wall and prevents downward movement of the adjusting screw. Successively received over the end portion 102 of the screw are a sleeve 108 carrying a thrust bearing 110, a bushing 112, a spacer collar 114, an adjusting handle 116 and a pair of lock nuts 118. As seen in Figure 2, tightening the lock nuts 118 will clamp the handle and collar against the thrust bearing 110 and the stop collar against the bearing 104 so that the entire assembly may be rotated as a unit due to the antifriction rolling action of the thrust bearings. Mounted on the bushing 112 and secured thereto for rotation therewith is a dial indicator 120 which is provided with graduated markings (not 'shown) indicative of the linear movement of the slide which occurs as the adjusting screw is rotated by means of the handle 116.

Rotary motion is transmitted to the radius turning arm through the integral shaft 64 which is provided at its inner end with a gear segment 1 22 which is keyed to the shaft 64 and retained on the shaft by means of lock washer and nut assembly 124. The gear segment 122 could be a complete gear, but space limitations in this particular design are more adaptable to merely a gear segment. The gear segment 122 mates with a' pinion 126 which is preferably formed integrally with -a pinion I shaft 128. The pinion shaft is rotatably mounted in the side head saddle 20 by means of antifriction bearings 130. The end of the pinion shaft opposite the pinion is splined as at 132 to carry for rotation therewith a worm wheel hub 134 which is retained on the pinion shaft by means of a lock washer and nut assembly 136. Secured to the worm wheel hub by means of a plurality of cap 'screws 138 is a worm'wheel 140. The reason that the worm wheel and hub are made separately is thatin this -manner, the hub may be made of steel to provide the necessary transmission strength in the spline whereas the worm wheel 140 is preferably made of bronze so that improved wear characteristics are obtained. The worm wheel 140 meshes with a hardened and ground worm 142 which is preferably formed integrally with a worm shaft 144. 9

. with the dial indicator 202, at which time rotation of the hand wheel 198 will also cause-the sleeve 206 and,the dial Worm shaft 144 and the driving means thereforarc more clearly seen in the sectional view illustrated in Figure 4. In this view it is seen that the worm shaft is rotatably carried at one end by a bearing 146 mounted in an internal boss 148 of the side head saddle. The other end of the worm shaft is rotatably carried in an antifriction bearing 150 which,is mounted in a conventional bearing container 152, the bearing container being in turn mounted in 'an internal boss 154 of the side head saddle. Keyed to the worm shaft, as at 156, is driven gear 158 The assembly is maintained by means of a lock washer 160 and lock nut 162. Power is delivered from a conventional feed box (not shown) which rotates an output shaft 166,in either direction as desired. Keyed as at 168 to the output shaft 166 is a gear sleeve 170 which is positionally retained on the shaft by means of a key 172 and a conventional lock washer and nut assembly 174. Secured for rotation with the gear sleeve and output shaft is a'driving gear 178, said driving gear being preselected radius. The arcuate movement of the pivot point 51 willbe duplicated in thetool 31 as described heretofore.

closeadjustment of the initial cutting position of the -tool may be made by means of the hand adjustment assembly, generally indicated at 180, which is mounted in the side head of the boring mill. The side head saddle 20 is provided with an opening 182 adapted to receive a hearing sleeve 184 which is flanged as at 185 at its outer end and secured to a mating flange 187 on the side head by nreans of cap screws 186. Rotatably received within the bearing .sleeve 184, is a hand adjustment shaft 188.

:Secured to the hand adjustment shaft 188 for rotation therewith is a bevel pinion 190 operatively engageable with a bevel gear 191 which is keyed to the sleeve 170.

The bevel pinion 190 is preferably secured to the shaft 188 by means of a key 192 and a set screw 194. The hand adjustment shaft 188'exteuds outwardly of the side head saddle as at 196. Secured to the shaft extension 196 for rotation therewith is a hand wheel 198 held in position by a lock washerand nut assembly 200. Rotatably mounted on the hand wheel hub adjacent the flange 185 of the sleeve 184 is a dial indicator 202. Immediately adjacent the dial indicator 202' and keyed to the hand wheel hub as at 204 is a locking sleeve 206. The locking sleeve is provided .with a plurality of openings 208 adapted to receive T-bolts 210 therethrough, the T portion of the bolts 210 being received within an annularT-slot 212 in the dial. indicator 202. Knurled nuts 214 are provided for the T-bolts. It maybe seen that the tightening of the knurled nuts 214 on the T-bolts 210 will clamp the locking sleeve 206 into tight frictional engagement indicator 202 to similarly rotate. The amount of rotation may be indicated by graduations (not shown) on a tapered face 216 of the dial indicator with reference to a scribed zero line (not shown) on the, tapered face 218 of the mango. 185, The output shaft166 from the conventional feed box is provided with a conventional friction clutch not shown) to permit the output shaft to be'rotated by hand-independently of the power drive. Using the turning device in conjunction with the side head saddle of the boring mill asdescribed above, an iexternal spherical contour will be obtained as illustrated .by the .outside surface 230 on .the exemplary work piece shown in Figure 7'. It will be apparent to those familiar the saddle. The worm is matingly splined to the vertical feed rod 282 for sliding movement axially thereof. It should be noted that the worm 350 and the vertical feed rod 282 (Figure 6 have been rotated 90 degrees in a horizontal plane in order that engagement between the worm and worm wheel may be more clearly seen.

The vertical feed rod is driven in either direction from a conventional feed box (not shown) and rotation of the vertical feed rod is transmitted through the gear train described above to the radius turning arm 312 thereby imparting arcuate motion to the pivotal connection point generally indicated at 310. Inasmuch as the ram 18 is free to slide downwardly on the ways 296 and the auxiliary slide 284 is free to slide horizontally relative to the saddle on the V-grooved bearing structure described heretofore, the bracket 308, the ram 18 and the tool holder 302 will be moved through a corresponding arcuate path whereby a contour as represented by the line 352 in Figure 7 is cut on a work piece carried by the table 32 for rotation therewith.

Adjusting means 314 provide for varying the radius of the spherical contour to be cut on the work piece in the same manner as the corresponding mechanism described heretofore for the same external spherical turning attachment.

Offset internal spherical turning may be accomplished by moving the saddle horizontally on the rail a sufiicient amount to provide for the desired offset and then operating the spherical turning attachment in which case a contour such as represented by the line 354 in Figure 8 will be obtained. The amount of offset obtainable in this manner is of course limited only by the length of the slide.

Referring to Figure 5, it is seen that means are provided to independently adjust the tool holder in a vertical direction. The vertical tool adjusting means is designated generally at 356 and comprises a threaded stud 358 reoeived through aligned clearance holes 360 and 362 and snugly threaded into a tapped opening 364 in the ram 18. A cut out opening 366 is provided in the tool holder to receive an adjusting dial 368 which surrounds the stud 358 and is threaded for operative engagement with the threads of the stud. Adjustment of the tool holder is accomplished by loosening the clamping bolts 304 and rotating the adjusting dial 368 which because of its threaded engagement with the relatively stationary stud 358, moves axially thereof and carries with it the tool holder 302 together with the tool 19. After adjusting the tool holder to the desired vertical position, the clamping bolts are once again tightened to clamp the tool holder in the adjusted position. A set screw 370 retains a pointer (not shown) for dial 368.

The foregoing description demonstrates that'a novel attachment has been provided which is adaptable to accomplish internal or external spherical turning, offset internal or external sphericaLturning and also internal or external contouring.

I claim:

1. A machine of the class described comprising means for rotating a work piece, a holder for a cutting tool, a radius arm having a pivotal connection to the machine, a slide mounted in said arm for movement lengthwise thereof, an actuator bracket secured to the holder for movement therewith and having a pivotal connection to the slide, a cam track, a cam follower carried by the slide for movement therewith, said follower being operatively engageable with the cam track for movement therealong as the arm pivots, and means for pivoting the arm.

2. In a vertical boring mill, the combination of a work piece carrying table rotatable about a vertical axis, ways secured to said mill, a member movable along said ways, a tool carrying ram carried by said member for movement therewith, said ram beingmovable relative to said member in a direction normal to the direction of movement of said member, an arm rotatably secured at one end thereof to said mill, power means to rotate said arm, and means affording adjustable pivotal connection between said arm and said ram whereby the arcuate movement of said arm is imparted to said ram, said last mentioned means comprising a bracket secured to said ram for movement therewith, a slide carried by said arm and adapted for movement longitudinally thereof, a hub carried by said slide, said hub being pivotally received within said bracket, means to selectively vary the position of said slide in said arm longitudinally thereof, and means to lock said slide in the desired position.

3. An arrangement for moving a cutting tool in a predetermined curvilinear path, said arrangement comprising: a linearly movable first member; a tool carrying second member carried by said first member for movement therewith and for relative movement angularly thereof; a bracket secured to said second member for movement therewith; a pivot arm; a slide carried by said arm and freely movable therein; a pivotal connection between said bracket and said slide; a cam track; and a cam follower carried by said slide and engageable with said cam track for movement therealong as the arm pivots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 440,319 Mackintosh Nov. 11, 1890 1,339,816 Fiddyment May 11, 1920 1,485,258 Dzus Feb. 26, 1924 1,492,103 Parkes Apr. 29, 1924 2,104,238 Nichols Jan. 4, 1938 2,252,627 Gorton Aug. 12, 1941 2,329,246 Bullard Sept. 14, 1943 2,610,550 Touchmann Sept. 10, 1952 2,652,731 Turchan Sept. 22, 1953 

